Friday, May 24, 2019

Elegy In Space

Having seen the debut of what eventually became a fixture of the super-hero set, and no doubt one of the most sought-after invitations in New York City, let's head back to Avengers Mansion once more where our group of regulars shifts up a bit but are still ready to make a grab for the pot, at

It looks like Jarvis has taken over hosting duties for this evening's game, though Ben's late arrival has nonetheless been given all due consideration. But there is another late arrival who is unfamiliar to some of those at the table, even though she had joined them previously--but much has happened to her since then, and she's quite a different person than the woman who sat in on their first game.

And as we can see, this would be what appears to be the Thing's first meeting* with one of the X-Men's most irascible, and most valued, members.

*Ben and Logan have another "first meeting" in another story, which takes place before the Thing made his appearance (and, needless to say, well after this early 1986 tale).

But the tone of the evening shifts slightly with the night's latest arrival--one whose introduction leads to news that comes as a shock to Carol Danvers, who is now the woman called Binary.

The circumstances of Carol's sudden exit no doubt throw a damper on the evening for everyone present; though whether the game continues is unclear, since the story then follows Carol to Mar-vell's grave where she makes her peace with his death. When she returns later, she informs Logan that she's accepting the Starjammers' offer to join them in space, believing that she has no future on Earth since the attack on her by Rogue had the effect of depriving her of any emotions she might have had for those she knew. Yet Carol would someday indeed return to the planet of her birth--and perhaps another invite to take a seat at the table would find its way to her, letting her know she still had a few cards left to play.

And that her winnings would go toward paying for that hole in the roof.

6 comments:

In a darkly dramatic tale like the "Death of Captain Marvel", one shouldn't be paying attention to continuity trivia. But Ben's comment about the "biggest brains" working to cure Mar-Vell's cancer brought such an item back to mind. I recall a panel where those Big Brains (super science AND magic) discussed how they had a cure, but Mar-Vell's negabands were blocking their treatment. I can't help wondering about a couple of weeks later when everyone is moving on with their lives and done mourning. "Y'know, there are thousands of people out there with cancer who do not wear negabands. I wonder if this intense research might cure them?"

Ah, well. Maybe all their work was purely focused on cosmic-enhanced Kree physiologies.

In an even more irreverent note, I wonder if there's ever been a scene where a character goes for the big dramatic destructive exit thru a wall or up thru the roof...and then bounces back like a ping pong ball? As they sit on the floor, clutching their head, someone explains that the Mansion's roof is triple-reinforced to resist attacks and for jets to land on it.

If I remember that scene correctly, Murray, I think the problem was that the nega-bands were blocking any of their efforts to fight the disease, as opposed to having an actual cure in hand. If they had whipped up a cure, it would have rendered pointless the scene where they had been trying to respond to Rick's plea for help by explaining that people have been attempting to come up with a cure for cancer for decades and have still come up empty. That didn't stop them from giving it a shot, of course--but given the kind of story that Starlin was trying to write, they had to try their best and still fail, with the nega-bands providing a way for Starlin to stymie even their collective intellect. (And as an aside, I thought his reasoning in that regard was quite plausible.)

Ah, my memory misfiring. I used to have a copy of the graphic novel, but no longer. The nega-bands were an excellent rationalization to block any attempts at a cure. I just had the nuances of the "Big Brain" research efforts a bit skewed.

Mar-Vell's death seems to be one of the few that have stuck. Is it because of a lack of popularity or because his replacements have been allowed to explore aspects of the character without having to bring the original back, I wonder.

Until then, Tiboldt, you can coast on the instances where Mar-vell has made posthumous appearances in various titles--which, come to think of it, would make for a macabre yet fun post. In other words, right up my alley.